Campus roundup: Rugby Dinos concede title to UBC T-Birds

LETHBRIDGE — Playing in their first Canada West final since 2006, the UBC Thunderbirds scored 21 unanswered second half points en route to claiming the program’s first ever Canada West title with a 26-12 win over the defending Champion Calgary Dinos.

Both teams had already qualified for the U SPORTS National Championship hosted in Ottawa in two weeks’ time following the semifinal wins on Saturday but the Thunderbirds will go in as the Canada West Champion and receive a higher seed.

UBC halted the Dinos quest for a fourth straight Canada West title but the Dinos will regroup and look towards the U SPORTS Championship.

Nine minutes into the game, 2018 Canada West MVP Kaselle Menin rumbled in for the first score and with Catherine Ohler’s convert, the Dinos grabbed an early seven-point lead.

With UBC pushing into Calgary territory, Shoshanah Seumanutafa deftly kicked the ball forward into space with Emma Feldinger diving on the ball for UBC’s first try in the 24th minute, but with a missed convert the T-Birds trailed 7-5.

Off a UBC offside penalty only five yards from the UBC touch area, the Dinos set up the offence and Mariam Ibrahim answered right back for the Dinos only six minutes later.

As expected, UBC wouldn’t go away quietly. A long build-up with multiple phases put the T-Birds in a prime scoring area in the final minutes of the opening half, but a steal in a tackle turned the ball over to the Dinos and Calgary was able to kick the ball to relieve the pressure and a 12-5 lead at the half.

An early second-half penalty on the Dinos put the Thunderbirds on the offensive and the Thunderbirds were awarded a penalty try in the 42nd minute to tie the game at 12.

Down a player due to a yellow card to Alyson MacDougall, it was the Calgary Dinos that pressured the full T-Bird side for the majority of the 10-minute sin bin.

Following a yellow card issued to UBC’s Rori Wood, both sides played with 14 players aside and it was the T-Birds turn to go on the offensive. Gillian Boag powered through the Dino defence to give the T-Birds their first lead of the game, 19-12 after a Seumanutafa convert.

While the Dinos were up a player following the UBC try, the T-Birds were back on the attack, pushing Calgary inside their own 10-yard line, despite turning the ball over on a penalty, UBC won the ball right back only to get stopped again.

Back to full strength and a scrum deep in the Dinos end, the T-Birds added to their lead in the 63rd minute. Rachel Smith picked up the try and Seumanutafa made the tough kick from the far-left side to give the T-Birds a two converted try lead.

Sensing that the program’s first title was in reach, the Thunderbirds were able to retain ball possession and control the field position for the remainder the half to secure the first title in Thunderbird history.

TROJANS MEN’S SOCCER

OLDS — This time around, the SAIT Trojans men’s soccer team would like to take care of some unfinished business.

For the second year in a row, the Trojans will enter the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Championship (hosted by NAIT in Edmonton) as the South Division’s No. 1 seed. The Trojans locked that position down this weekend, as they wrapped up their regular season on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over the host Olds College Broncos.

“I think this season has been good for us,” said Trojans head coach Connor Brady. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity this year which has made us stronger, and it’s nice to go into the Championship with a competitive game like we had today. Their field suits their type of play and not ours, but we stayed patient and ended up with the win.”

The Trojans went 10-1-1 in the regular season.

Last year, SAIT was upset by the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder in the semifinal of the ACAC Championship. They ultimately went on to win the bronze medal, but it goes without saying that Brady would like to take it a step further this season.

“We have many returning players from last year that still have a bad taste in their mouth from that game. We’re looking for some redemption,” he stated.

In Sunday’s contest, the game went a full 85 minutes before SAIT’s Joseph Lambele (3rd year, Fort McMurray, Alta., Business Administration) fired a shot into the Olds net to break the scoreless tie and score the game-winning goal.

“It’s difficult to remain calm, stay the course and do what’s worked all year for you when the goals aren’t coming,” Brady said. “But that’s what we did. We stayed together, kept our composure and it worked out in the end.”

SAIT will have a bye into this coming weekend’s Championship. They will play the winner of the South’s No. 3 seed, Red Deer College, and the North’s second-ranked Concordia in Saturday’s semifinal game at Emerald Hills Regional Park at 6:30pm.

TROJANS WOMEN’S SOCCER

OLDS — The SAIT Trojans women’s soccer team didn’t need any help. They took care of business themselves.

At one point the second last team in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference South Division, the SAIT Trojans won five straight games to end the regular season as the division’s No. 2 seed going into the Conference Championship next week in Edmonton, Alta. The final win came Sunday, as they leapfrogged Olds College thanks to a 3-0 win.

“A few weeks ago, if you would have told me that’s how things were going to end, I’m not sure I would have believed you,” said an elated Trojans head coach John Talerico. “But you know, our confidence just grew and grew minute by minute. They now believe they can go far because we have played so well down the stretch. To get in was sweet, and to get the second seed by beating Olds at home was even sweeter.”

SAIT finishes the regular season with a 7-3-2 mark. Olds College will grab the third and final playoff spot from the South with a 7-4-1 record.

As the second seed, SAIT will now meet the North Division’s third seed, King’s University, in a quarter-final matchup to see who will move on. King’s finished the regular season with a 5-5-2 record.

“Anything’s possible, and we have nothing to lose,” Talerico replied when asked about his thoughts on the Conference Championship. “We’re approaching it like we did today’s game — as warriors. Like I said, I truly believe we can go far and the girls understand that as well.”

In Sunday’s game, the first half saw chances by both teams early on, but it was SAIT who finally found the back of the net when Jaime McPherson (2nd year, Fort St. John, BC, Medical Radiologic Technology) beat Olds keeper Kathleen Andres along the ground to put her team up 1-0.

On the other side of the field, rookie keeper Stine Thorne made key saves early to keep the Broncos off the board.

It was the third straight start for Thorne and third straight shutout.

“For a rookie to come in at this part of the season and play goal the way she has, has been pretty remarkable,” Talerico stated. “Sometimes, she looks too casual out there, but she’s been fantastic in the back. We challenged her today to be more vocal and she did that and helped out our back line.”

In the second half, Trojans rookie standout Jade Metz (1st year, Calgary, Bachelor of Business Administration) added two insurance goals to close out her first season of ACAC play with an amazing 13 goals.

SAIT’s quarter-final matchup with King’s will be played Friday morning at 11am at Emerald Hills Regional Park.

COUGARS MEN’S HOCKEY

Defending Canada West champions Alberta Golden Bears were given a rude awakening on home-ice during their first meeting against Mount Royal, who gave the USPORTS national runner-ups a 7-3 beat-down on Friday night.

The result marked the first MRU victory against Alberta since October 2015. Mount Royal came out like a house on fire, hanging a 3-1 score after the opening frame.

The Cougars chased Golden Bear starter Brendan Burke out of the game after he allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period.

Former Calgary Hitmen star Connor Rankin opened the scoring on the man-advantage with his third of the season at 10:41 before University of Western Ontario transfer and second-year Cougar Connor Chartier converted on a penalty shot to double the MRU lead at 17:14.

38 seconds later, Fourth-year and former Lethbridge Hurricanes captain Jamal Watson found the back of the net for the first time this season. Alberta got on the board at 18:49 in the first before scoring 4:00 into the second frame to bridge the gap at 3-2.

Ex-Spokane Chief Chartier scored his third of the season and the second of the night to once again, double the MRU lead late in the frame at 18:30, putting the wheels in motion for another three-goal explosion from the Cougars.

Redshirt freshman Keegan Iverson tallied his second goal of the season at 10:43 before former Grand Prairie Storm captain Connor Blake scored Mount Royal’s second power-play marker less than two minutes later at 12:38 to push the lead to 6-2.

Blake enjoyed a three-point night, tallying two assists during the win. Alberta pulled a goal back nearly three minutes later but Cougar leading-goalscorer Ryley Lindgren iced the game with his empty-net marker and sixth goal of the season.

Lindgren leads the Cougars with 11 points (6G, 5A) through six games.

Blue-liner and former Prince Albert Raider Jesse Lees led the count on the scoresheet with four assists during the 7-3 win. Lees leads all Canada West d-men with 10 points (4G, 6A) through six games.

Fourth-year goaltender and ex-Kootenay Ice starter Wyatt Hoflin picked up a 36-save win in his season debut.

The Golden Bears returned the favour as MRU failed to complete the sweep Saturday night. Alberta blanked the Cougars 3-0 at the Flames Community Arenas. Alberta goaltender Burke bounced back with a 21-save shutout performance while the offence in front of him tallied in each period and outshot the Cougars 32-21, including a 20-shot second period during their win.

Cougar netminder Hoflin stood tall during his second start, stopping 29 on the night during the loss.

Mount Royal travels to Regina for an all-Cougars meeting with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m. Friday night.

COUGAR WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Both Mount Royal and Alberta split their weekend, earning three points on both sides.

The Cougars picked up a heavily contested 1-0 decision on Friday night.

A first period marker from senior Kate Hufnagel 6:27 into the contest was the difference as her game-winning goal was only one of 12 MRU shots during the win.

MRU rookie goaltender and back-to-back Saskatchewan midget AAA goalie of the year Kaitlyn Ross picked up her second win of the season and first career goose-egg thanks to a courageous 25-save shutout performance.

Alberta redeemed the loss with a shutout performance of their own, blanking the Cougars on Saturday night 2-0.

Both Panda goals came on the power play in the second period. Back-to-back penalties sealed MRU’s fate as a 13:42 marker was followed up by another penalty that Alberta converted on just two minutes later at 15:46.

Mount Royal welcomes the Regina Cougars for a weekend set at the FCA with puck drop set for 7:00 p.m on Friday night.

COUGARS MEN’S SOCCER

Mount Royal’s legendary 2019 campaign concluded on a bitter note as the boys in blue dropped a 1-0 match in an opening day rematch against the Calgary Dinos Saturday afternoon.

Calgary (7-6-1) redeemed a 5-0 opening day beatdown in the final installment of the men’s soccer Crowchild Classic to end their campaign third in the Prairie Division.

The Cougars (9-4-1) still have work to do heading into their fifth straight playoff appearance. Mount Royal will host its first playoff game since transitioning to USPORTS in 2012 while boasting its most talented squad in years.

Potential Canada West rookie of the year Dane Domic finished his stellar debut season second in the Canada West scoring race with six goals and eight assists under an MRU kit.

Between the sticks, second-year keeper Kyran Valley finished third in minutes and conceded the least goals with nine while holding a Canada West low 0.86 goals against.

Mount Royal awaits the fourth-place playoff holder in the Pacific Division and will host them at Mount Royal Stadium Field on Oct. 26.

COUGARS WOMEN’S SOCCER

Mount Royal’s push was too little, too late.

The women’s soccer squad split their final weekend while on the road in Manitoba, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Bisons before picking up a 3-1 win in their final game of the season against the Winnipeg Wesmen.

Centre-half Quinn Hardstaff equalized against the Bisons in the 36th but two second-half tallies pushed the scoreline to 3-1.

Sunday afternoon marked MRU’s second win thanks to their 3-1 victory over the Wesmen.

The Cougars (2-10-2) finish with eight points while the Lethbridge Pronghorns (1-6-7) finish with 10 and clinch the final playoff berth in the Prairie Division.

COUGARS MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Court season officially began for the Cougars, who are riding high expectations after sitting inside the USPORTS top-five the majority of last season, crashing out in the national quarter-final.

The men’s team split their opening weekend against the visiting MacEwan Griffins at Kenyon Courts.

The Cougars dropped their season opener in a 3-2 thriller (22-25, 28-26, 25-21, 26-28,15-11).

MRU (1-1) held the advantage in total points with 77-63, kills 58-54, aces 11-4 and assists 53-52 but fell short in the digs category 52-43.

Mount Royal won the first set before dropping the next two, forcing a fifth set with a 28-26 fourth set victory.

MacEwan outlasted the Cougars in the extra set 15-11 to win the contest.

Second-year Luis Lange led Cougars in kills with 16 and blocks with five. Setters Jackson Brennan and Keal Prince carried the load in assists with 25 and 24 respectively. Senior Matt Saly owned 15 digs to his name.

MRU redeemed their opening day loss with a straight-set sweep (25-15, 25-12, 25-18) of the Griffins Saturday afternoon.

Mount Royal led most of the statistical categories with 50-28 points, 35-23 kills, 10-0 aces and 34-23 in assists.

SAIT transfer and second-year Cougar Trent Mounter carried the load on offence with 14 kills while sophomore Lange had four aces and three blocks to his name. Prince once again led in assists with a game-high 29 while also contributing a team-high six digs.

The Cougars travel to Manitoba for a weekend set against the Bisons Friday night in Winnipeg.

COUGARS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Women’s volleyball was dubbed third in the coaches poll and managed to live up to that standard as they opened their 2019/202 campaign with a weekend sweep of the MacEwan Griffins on home-court.

The Cougars opened their season with a 3-2 (20-25, 24-26, 25-20, 26-24, 15-13) comeback victory.

MRU (2-0) dropped both of their opening sets before turning the tables on the Griffins, winning the next three sets.

14 errors in the opening two sets lifted the Griffins to an early 2-0 advantage but a combined effort on offence helped MRU to claw out a victory.

Right-side Carly Davies and outside-hitter Madison Marshall both led MRU with 13 kills while setter Quinn Pelland had an outstanding 50 assists. Davies also led the charge with 21 digs, followed by 15 from Chantel Park and Kassandra Hordal.

The Cougars continued to roll as they clipped the Griffins in straight sets (27-25, 25-9, 25-17) for the victory.